1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plug body for an endoscope attached to a channel opening of an insertion channel of a treatment instrument provided in an endoscope which shuts off the inside of the insertion channel of the treatment instrument from an outside in an air tight manner in a state where the treatment instrument has been inserted into the channel opening.
2. Description of the Related Art
An endoscope has been widely used in the medical field or the like. Moreover, various treatments are carried out for portions, tissues or the like in a body cavity of a patient using the endoscope. Specifically, a treatment for injecting a medical solution into the body cavity of the patient by inserting a catheter into the insertion channel of the treatment instrument provided in the endoscope or treatments such as ablation or sampling of an affected portion have been carried out by inserting forceps into the insertion channel of the treatment instrument.
When carrying out these treatments using an endoscope, a catheter or forceps are introduced into the insertion channel of the treatment instrument through a plug body attached to the channel opening provided at an operation portion of the endoscope. This plug body prevents biological fluid, filth, air or the like in the body cavity from flowing back through the insertion channel of the treatment instrument due to change of a pressure in the body cavity or the like and leaking out of the channel opening to the outside.
The plug bodies are classified into a reusable type which can be reused after use and a disposable type which can not. The reusable type plug body is washed and disinfected after the use. On the other hand, once the disposable type plug body is attached to the opening of the insertion channel of the treatment instrument, removal is definitely accompanied by destruction to prohibit reuse.
Various disposable type plug bodies have been proposed.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-73168 discloses a plug body for a medical treatment instrument. In this plug body for a medical treatment instrument, an annular notch groove is formed on an outer circumferential surface of a plug frame, and the part is formed into a thin wall. And a knob of this plug body for a medical treatment instrument is constructed to integrally continue to the plug frame on the outer circumferential surface below the notch groove.
For the plug body in this construction, an operator pinches the knob with the fingers and pulls it in the circumferential direction after use, for example. Then, the plug frame is torn sequentially from the notch groove to the annular notch groove and separated into two upper and lower portions from the notch groove. By this, the plug body can be removed extremely easily from an insertion opening body.
In the meantime, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-47275 discloses a plug body for a medical instrument. In this plug body for a medical instrument, a knob is provided at a lower end of a side wall of a cylindrical part of the plug body. This knob is integrally connected to a main body part of the plug body. Notch portions are formed at the main body part corresponding to both ends of a joint of the knob and groove portions respectively connected to the notch portions are provided continuously so as to reach the part on the upper side of an annular groove portion.
With the plug body in this construction, an operator pinches the knob with the fingers and pulls it, for example. Then, the plug body is torn from the notch portions to the groove portions and a part of the annular groove portion is chipped. By this, the plug body can be easily removed from an insertion opening body.